


The Purest of Blue's

by NickIzBored



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2019-09-13 01:54:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16883397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NickIzBored/pseuds/NickIzBored
Summary: Gently Keith ran his thumb over Lance’s new markings. Purposefully he glanced at Lances ears hidden by the beanie the boy was wearing. “You don’t have to hide anything. I accept you as you are now, and I know everyone else will too.” He spoke in a soft whisper. Keith wasn’t someone who normally was good with words, or emotions, but if there was one thing he was good at it was comfort.(Takes place shortly after they find Shiro in season 3)





	1. Chapter 1: A Lonely Place

He wakes up with a start. Sweat dripping down his face and into his eyes but the cool air around him contradicts this fact. He had been asleep and yet it feels like he had run a mile. Heart beating so fast it was the only sound he could hear. Hair everywhere even though he slept with it in curlers. The curlers are now been strewn about his bed. Blankets twisted in a ball that is sitting on his lap, almost as if he had been clutching it in his sleep. He may have been, after all it seemed that his face mask had rubbed off on to them. He'd have to wash them again.

He shakes his head, now is not the time to be thinking about such trivial things. His alarm begins to beep almost as if it agrees with his thoughts. “Time to get ready.” He says with a shrug. He throws his sheets to the side and begins with his daily. He has no clue what had woken him up like that, but it had been happening more and more frequently lately. Nightmares that seemed so real while he was in them but when he awoke they weren't even whispers in the back of his mind. Like he forgot he woke up to a blinging terror almost every space morning. 

The team seemed to sense something was off, but no one dared ask. He had been a little distant lately. Especially after he lost Blue to Allura. Not that that was a bad thing. Quite the opposite he thought. Allura deserved to be more than just the face of Voltron. She deserved to do what she wanted, and what she wanted was to fight and when the team lost one member that's what she got to do. Of course, Blue shutting him out hurt - it's not like it felt like someone stabbing him in the heart or anything - but it would have been worse for them to be down a lion and Allura seemed happier since she became Blue’s paladin. He couldn't have chosen a better person to take over his place as Blues paladin. He just… really missed Blue. Red is great; she's fast, strong, smart, determined and stubborn. It's just that he's none of those things. He's the weak link. No, no, no. We're not going down this path this early in the morning. Moving on.

He forces himself to follow another train of thought. Stepping out of the shower he takes a minute to wipe off the mirror and check himself out. He strikes a pose and gave his signature smile. “How's it goin’ good lookin’.” He said smoothly, and with that quickly dries off, puts on his blue under armor along with the blue leg plates and blue arm plates. From there he exits the bathroom, quickly drops his PJs off in his room and practically runs to the kitchen to find Hunk making the breakfast he's been smelling for the last five minutes. 

He slides up the the counter to watch Hunk put the finishing touches on a beautiful golden brown stack of pancakes. Somehow Hunk can take any ordinary alien food and turn it into something delicious. Without Hunk, he and Pidge would have probably starved by now because Coran's Paladin meal will never be something they willingly consume. “Morning Hunk.” He says cheerfully. Hunk looks up at him and mumbles something unintelligible. The dark bags under his eyes suggest that the boy had another late night with Pidge. Didn’t he tell them to go to bed last night? “What did you guys come up with this time?” He asks while throwing a couple pancakes on the plate he just recieved. 

Hunk shrugs and yawns. “We haven’t really made anything new lately, but we have made a few improvements on old things. Last night we worked on Green’s colaking and now it lasts for ten doboshes instead of five. Tomorrow we will be working on giving all the lions cloaking like Green’s. Starting with Red.” The clearly exhausted boy explains. Lance nods, his mouth is too full for him to respond. Hunks pancakes are truly a piece of heaven. 

Hunk takes a seat next to Lance and rests his head on his best friends shoulder. “Take a nap, Hunk. It looks like it’s going to be a late start for everyone today.” Lance has been noticing lately how everyone had been waking up later and later in the day. Even Coran, Shiro and the Princess. It was odd but he made no mention of it. Everyone has been exhausted lately, and he let them sleep until around nine in the morning instead of six like when they first started the war. The team had taken quite a few heavy hits lately. First with figuring out all the arrangements after they got Shiro back, and then when they started working more with the Blade of Marmora. Now the team exhausts itself with the rising tension between Keith and Shiro over leadership. Lance doesn’t know what to do. 

Next to him he hears snoring and realizes he’s been staring off into space (no pun intended) with his mouth half open and still full of pancake. Hunk half lays on the counter face down on his own plate of pancakes that he seemed to be in the process of cutting. This makes Lance smile, but it also worries him. He’s never seen his best friend this tired before. Tonight he’ll have to make sure Hunk and Pidge are in bed and asleep before he is. “Hunk,” He says lightly and shakes the Yellow Paladins shoulder. Hunk lazily opens one eye in response. “Come on, buddy. Let’s get you into bed.” He says gently. Lance helps his exhausted friend stand and supports him until they get to Hunks room where he lowers Hunk down on his bed and covers him up with a blanket before turning off the lights and leaving him to catch up on his sleep. 

Lance heads to the bridge in silence. It’s so quiet in the castle, and what’s worse is it’s an unnatural silence. His feet followed the path he knew led to the bridge but his mind questioned what was going on. Nothing had been normal. He knew something was wrong, but he wondered why he was the only one to be unaffected by whatever it was. Maybe he was being affected? The idea almost made sense, and that was almost more terrifying than the idea that he wasn’t being affected. 

Blue eyes locked onto the big screen on the bridge. It showed a nearby planet called Yendailian. Its name was oddly familiar, but he couldn’t remember from where. Probably didn’t matter. What did matter was the tiny flashing red light in the corner of the screen that meant they had picked up a distress signal from this nearby planet. Lance slowly opens up the screen and plays the distress code aloud, just to push back the overwhelming silence. “I have crash landed on an island with no food or water and no way to fix my ship. I don’t want anything more than a few parts to fix my ship. My flux capacitor broke and a few wires are torne. If anyone is out there, please help.” When the video is over he leans back in his chair to consider his options. He’s not an engineer, but he knows enough to know what the aliens ship needs. He also knows they have more than enough food goo and water to bring down a little to said alien. His only problem is he would have to do this alone. Everyone else is probably too exhausted to even attempt to wake up and even if he managed to wake them there’s no way they’d be in good enough shape for him to rely on.  
With his decision made he opens a page on his screen and writes a note in case anyone wakes up and wonders where he was. It wasn't likely that would happen, but just in case. 

Down in Red's hanger he quickly loads her up with the things he thinks he'll need. She sends him waves of confusion but doesn't try to stop his from doing something possibly stupid. They both know this is in both their nature's, and as he loads everything on he tells her about the situation. She sends him feelings of understanding, and then they're off. Within moments he can see the planet. It's big, and beautiful. With glorious oceans and red continents. “Perfect for camouflage.” Lance notes. Red purrs in agreement but does nothing more. 

Lance pulls up the distress signals location. “Not too far to the east.” He didn't say it for Red's sake. He knows she knows where it is. He said it to fight the silence again. There's nothing in this universe that Lance hates more than Zarkon, Lotor (lowhore if you ask Lance), and silence. Right now, silence is the biggest problem. He's used to his friends running around the castle frantically. He's used to them yelling over the coms. When he was home he was used to the noise of his siblings. Now though? Now there was nothing but an endless amount of silence and someday it would drive him insane. Especially if his friends didn't get better, but kept getting worse. 

Red lets out a warning growl before they hit a tree. Effectively knocking him out of his trance. “Sorry, girl.” Lance says apologetically. He flies around the island the signal came from, trying to get an eye on this downed ship and to determine whether or not it was a trap. His gut told him to be wary, but when he spotted the ship of the southern side of the island he knew it wasn't a trap. Or, well, at least not one set by the Galra. 

The island itself is beautiful. It's a lavishly colored island. The trees and undergrowth ranged in color from bright yellows to dark reds and if you looked hard enough you could pick out a few purple and blue flowers. The water surrounding is was even more beautiful up close that it was when viewed from out of the planets atmosphere. It glittered like gems in the moonlight, but sounded like soft waves lapping lazily against the shore. The sand, such soft blues and greens. One might have thought this was a dream.  
This was, of course, until Lance's keen eyes fell upon the little pod that had clearly not had a nice landing on the beach. This section of the beach was coated brown and black scorch marks. The ship itself was not unsalvageable, but Lance did question how this alien thought it was possible to salvage. It had crashed at such a fast speed that it left a crater in the ground and had taken down a few of the magnificent trees. It had to be in far worse shape than he had originally been lead to believe, but - he shrugged - the only way he could truly find out was if he landed and spoke to the alien himself. 

That's just what Lance did. He set Red down a short distance away from the wreckage. “I'll be back shortly, girl.” He said as he exited through her mouth. Landing on the ground was like landing on foam. The sand had more give but didn't immediately separate like Earth sand. It just squished and made Lance laugh. He hopped around for a few doboshes. Falling this way and that way. Finally he collapsed to the ground in a fit of giggles before it hit that he had not laughed like this in weeks. He may have genuinely smiled at something someone said but suddenly laughing felt foreign and new. His smile shrank to a sad smirk before vanishing all together. He wanted his friends back. He missed them almost as much as he missed his family. “Space can be a lonely place.” Lance whispered as he stood up. 

“A lonely place indeed.” Replied a deep voice. Lance spun around so fast he nearly fell over again before quickly regaining his balance to face the origin of the voice. What he finds is not what he expected.


	2. Chapter 2: Yendailian Magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did a little editing to this chapter after originally posting it. Only the last two paragraphs if you've already read it, but I would recommend reading those because it is a big change to how the story will go. I got stuck writing the next chapter because of that, so I decided to just scrap it, I should have the next chapter out here in a couple of days. I'm so sorry for the wait.

Lance faces a tall, metal alien. It has several long, thin limbs with claws at the end of each. Three red glowing eyes seem to stare directly into his soul. It's head is the shape of a egg and probably the largest part of the whole thing. It's weird, and new, and for a frightening moment Lance questions why he came down here again because the thing looks angry.  
Suddenly there is a loud whooshing sound as the aliens head pops open and out hops a little creature no bigger than a chihuahua. It looks like some kind of monkey but has feathers instead of fur. It is covered in brown, black and white spots, and has large eyes that would be almost adorable if not for the strangeness of the whole situation. “State your reason for being here, Earthling.” It says in a deep voice that does not at all match it's outer appearance.

  
“T-there was a distress beacon in this area, and I came to help.” Lance stutters out. He doesn’t even think to ask how the alien knows where he is from. Both just size the other up. To Lance it becomes quickly apparent that this alien could probably end him whenever it wanted to with any one of those claws. To the alien Lance doesn’t seem to be all that much of a threat, but the giant red beast he came down in might be. They are at a stand still, and neither seems to know how to end it.

  
It is the alien who moves first. “This way,” It says with a booming voice that has next to no emotion in it. Lance thought fighting was sure to have occurred, and is surprised when he realizes this is the alien who called for help.

  
As he follows the alien to its ship he notices a few things. One being the animals on this planet. They almost seem to glow, and there are so many. From the smallest butterfly (Lance thought it was quite pretty. If he weren’t here for a reason he would chase it) to the large almost deer like creatures. They are everywhere and don’t seem to be at all concerned with him or the alien in front of him. The second was the ship itself. It looks somehow worse the closer he gets. Windows are broken, parts of it are sparking, wires are sticking out everywhere, and it almost looks like it doesn't have a bottom anymore. “Hey, man. I understand that you’re kind of desperate to get out of here, I would be too, but I don’t think your ship is salvageable.”

  
The alien whipps around with a whirring of gears and booms, “DO NOT QUESTION ME HUMAN!!” At which point Lance trips over his own feet and falls into the sand. He scrambles backwards in a panic, but the alien simply turns back around and walks up to his broken pod. Lance watches as it picks up a stick off the ground and presses a button. Suddenly the ship doesn’t look so damaged. “It is a cloaking device. No one bothers wreckage, but everyone looks though mostly intact ships.”

  
Lance nods and stands up, dusts himself off and approaches the ship. “Oh, well you could have said that. I wouldn’t have questioned you then.” He misses when Keith and he would bicker like this. Lance’s heart aches, he misses his family. Both of them.

  
“Noted,” Is the only reply he got.

  
“I’m going to go get a few things from Red, I’ll be right back.” Lance says to the alien and then dashes off. It makes no effort to stop him, and Lance doesn’t look back. He dashes up into Red and retrieves the sack of supplies before running back out towards the wreckage.

  
They worked for about an hour. Although, if you were to ask Lance it was much longer because the alien had no patients and expected Lance to be an expert on their technology. It was a frustrating hour and Lance couldn’t wait for an opening to go back to the castle. He wanted to make sure everything was okay at the castle. That they hadn’t needed him. Part of him hoped they would panic in his absence and come to retrieve him. Lance was disappointed when he finally accepted that it wouldn’t happen. That’s when the tension grew to be too much and Lance threw up his hands. He stands up, explains to the alien that he has somewhere very important to be (it isn’t a lie. His anxiety says he needs to be back at the castle. That something isn’t right) and leaves him everything he had brought with him to the alien. They bid each other adieu and Lance walks back to Red.

  
On his way to Red he watches sun set below the waves. It paints the sky with an amethyst color, and it is almost more beautiful than the planet itself. He can’t take his eyes off it as he walks, too hypnotized by its beauty to look away. Finally, when it drops below the horizon leaving the sky a light pink that is quickly fading into black, his attention wanders over to the tree line. He encounters an illuminated blue path. Curiosity gets the better of him and he follows it into the forest. He follows it for a while. Lance doesn’t even try to keep track of time, all he knows is the darker it gets the lighter the trail seems to become. He knows he should be back at the castle by now, his brain keeps screaming this fact at him, but he is determined to see what is at the end of this path. He has a habit of this. When he was little he insisted his mother take him to the end of the rainbow one day. Little Lance just had to see the treasure everyone spoke about at the end of the rainbow. She laughed and said, okay. She told him it would be like an adventure. They drove around for hours that day, and finally she brought him to the sea. She knelt down next to him and told him every rainbow ended in the sea because it was the biggest treasure of them all. So mysterious and large, no one could claim it all. That’s where his love of the sea came from, and his love of space as well. They were almost one in the same.

  
He realizes the trail had ended while he was lost in his memory and a few feet away from the trail floats a tiny glowing orb. The same light blue as the trail. It looks like a little flame, the tendrils gently waving to their own beat as it bobs up and down and up and down, but he feels a pull to it. Almost as if it were calling out for him and him alone. It reminds him of home, soft and familiar. The longer he stands there the more he feels the pull until it is too great and he has to hold it. He has to know what it is and why it feels so much like home. Yet that same feeling also tells him to stay away, but the hairs on Lance’s arms that stand up just draw him in closer.

  
Lance reaches out and gently lifts the orb to eye level. It bobs up and down in his cupped hands for a moment. He thinks its glow is getting stronger but can’t quite tell. He supposes it could but how would that be possible? “What are you?” He asks almost expecting the orb to suddenly open a cartoony pair or cute eyes and respond in an adorably high pitched voice. His voice does activate something in it as the little orb shudders while he speaks, but nothing like what he was expecting. Instead it glows brighter and brighter until Lance can feel heat coming off of it. His heart rate spikes in fear and he desperately tries to get away from it but it seems to be attached to him somehow. The orb begins to grow in size as it gets brighter and quickly envelopes his hand. He screams at the searing pain and collapses on the ground, clutching at the painful limb and pulls at the ever growing orb. His screams echoed around the forest for miles, but he didn’t care. He only cared about the ever growing painful orb. It quickly enveloped his whole body.

  
Then is just… stops. No pain, no sound, no searing light, no nothing. Lance took the moment of calm to catch his breath and access the situation. He didn’t seem to be in any immediate danger, and he didn’t seem to be permanently hurt either. His hand looked burnt, blisters had already begun to appear all over and with them came discomfort, but oddly no pain. He switched his attention to his surroundings because this couldn’t be true. Someone was responsible for this mess, and it wasn’t just him. He was surrounded by a rippling blue, the same color as the blue orb before it ate him. Lance hoped that wasn’t what really happened. He wasn’t anyone's food. He was too pretty for that. He laughed at the thought and shook his head. No one really thought he was pretty. Not even himself. He knew neither Allura or Keith thought so as both of them seemed to become immediately annoyed when he entered a room. Keith, especially, seemed to only care because he was effecting Voltron with his emotions. Lance tried so hard to keep them from interfering but in the end it never mattered as they traveled from one planet to another and he always found something that reminded him of home. Maybe this was for the best. His team could get a new red paladin and he would no longer feel so alone.


	3. Chapter 3: Don’t Leave Me

Lance had been in a pod for days. He had been in there so long even Coran was beginning to doubt his own diagnosis, which was poison. A lot had happened to lead up to this. Lance had become kind of closed off. He stopped acting like the Lance that Keith knew. He was quiet, and very serious. Lance would spend hours either on the training deck or in his room. It was like he was trying to take Keith’s place as the lone wolf on the ship. Keith had tried to talk to Lance. It was almost like he was the only one trying to reach out to Lance. He knew that wasn’t true but he found himself spending more and more time with Lance every quintant. They all knew Lance was homesick, but Keith didn’t think anyone knew how much it was effecting Lance. Sure, they all were a little homesick, but not to the same level.

  
He and Hunk had been talking about it before the incident.

  
“ _Keith, I’m worried. He’s so distant and even Pidge can’t pull a smile from him anymore._ ”

  
“ _I know, I know. I’m worried too._ ”

  
“ _Well, what are we going to do then?_ ”

  
“ _I don’t know if there’s anything we can do._ ”

  
“ _But there has to be something! I’ve never seen him like this before. Even back when we were in the garrison he was always joking around and smiling._ ”

  
And then hey all had gone down to Yendailian after receiving the distress signal. They had helped the alien, whom had been a little more than confusing, and somehow Lance had slipped away. Keith had been the first to notice, of course. His right hand was gone. The boy he had a crush on went missing. Not that he would ever say the latter out loud.

  
Keith had slept by Lance’s pod. Lance had been in it for about a week. Keith hadn’t moved unless his body demanded it. His bones ached and he thought he might never fully warm up again but he was not going to move. No matter how long it took. Lance deserved at least that. Because when he and Coran had found Lance he had been screaming. Curled into a ball on the beautiful forest floor. That image danced behind Keith’s eyes every time he closed them. Lance’s body spasming painfully on the ground. His screams echoing for miles around them. Skin, red and inflamed. “Poison,” Coran had said. “Acidic poison designed to eat through the flesh.” Keith had fallen next to his secret love. Stomach twisting at the agony on Lance’s face. Hands shaking he gently rubbed Lance’s back, trying desperately to sooth the poor boy. It had worked for a moment. Lance stopped screaming and twitching. He relaxed slightly. Lance had slowly shifted and looked up at Keith. His eyes were the brightest blue he had ever seen. Brightened somehow even more by the pain Keith knew Lance was in. Keith momentarily got lost in those eyes. So lost he almost missed what Lance whispered, but Keith didn’t miss it. Couldn’t miss it. He would never forget it. Never. “Keith.” His name, whispered like a plea that shot arrows through Keith’s heart. “Don’t leave me.” How could he leave Lance? He would never, could never, leave Lance if he didn’t want Keith to leave. The moment was over far too fast. Keith had no time to dwell on it. No time to even respond. Lances eyes rolled back up in his head and he let out another blood curdling scream. Keith scooped the still crying Lance up in his arms and brought him back to the castle. Red, of course, followed fearfully behind Black as they went. Weak connection or not anyone could sense Red’s anxiety.

  
Keith and Coran had rushed Lance into a healing pod immediately. He was not going to lose Lance, and he certainly wasn’t going to leave him either. Coran had turned to him after Lance’s cryo-pod had frozen over. “Come on Number Four, lets go tell the others what’s happened.” Because, of course, Shiro had ordered everyone to stay on the planet and finish work on the alien’s ship despite everyone's protests. Including Keith’s.

  
Keith shook his head, flashing back to the panicked flight back to the castle. Whispering sweet nothings to Lance; promises to make it better, to never leave him unless Lance wished it. “You go. I promised Lance I wouldn’t leave him.” He waited for Coran to argue with him. To tell him he was being silly. That Lance couldn’t know if Keith left or not, but that never came. Coran just weakly forced a smile at Keith with a quiet, if not watery, okay before heading out to go inform the others of what had occured. Keith missed the sad understanding in the advisors eyes.  


  
So Keith sat alone with Lance. People came and went. Someone brought him a blanket and a pillow. Hunk brought him food and Pidge tried to cheer him up with a few movies she had managed to get ahold of at the space mall. Allura visited once a day for five minutes to stand five feet away from Lance’s pod and stare blankly. In the beginning it was annoying because Lance made no secret of liking Allura even though she shot him down regularly, but he eventually realized Lance’s disappearance was hurting everyone. Lance was their heart and without him everyone, even their independent princess, was not the same without him.

  
On the eighth day Keith finally fell asleep. Fully, undeniably passed out, sprawled out behind Lance's pod. Coran had come in for a quick check and noticed. He would have smiled at the sight if not for the fact that Lance was still unwell and Keith almost looked just as terrible. The boy hadn’t left the whole time Lance had been in the infirmary. Coran was not even sure he had changed clothes. Yet he knew Keith, and he knew no amount of pestering would make the boy leave Lance. So he did not bother to move him. All he could do was make sure he was somewhat healthy, warm, and fed while keeping tabs on Lance. So that’s what he did, and after he was done checking on Lance's vitals Coran covered Keith in the blanket he had left for him and turned off the lights. He promised himself he would come back in a couple vargas to check on the boys.

 

***********************

 

It was dark. That was the first thing Lance realized. Dark and cold and he felt funny (almost like he was in pain but not quite, it did not really hurt but felt more like a massive bruise that had been there for a few days) but none of that mattered. All he knew was that he woke up falling out of what might have been a pod, but he wasn't sure. He smelled like cryo-suit and sweat, so he concluded it probably was a pod he came crashing out of. Again. His face was probably a mess. He didn't know how long it had been since he had done a facemask. He needs to focus on one thing or he would spiral and end up a sobbing puddle on the floor. Getting clean was the thing he chooses to focus on.  


  
He threw open the bathroom door and immediately turned the water on as hot as he could make it and began scrubbing. He wasn’t really paying attention to anything other than the feeling of the water hitting his face.

  
He forced himself out of the shower when he felt his legs could no longer hold him. He plopped down on the floor in front of the full body mirror next to the sink. This was the first time Lance had seen himself since he woke up and he didn’t know what to think.

  
Everything came to a slow stop as he stared at himself in the mirror. Where round, human ears once stuck out of his head were replaced with pointed Altean ears. His eyes were a brighter blue, almost purplish color. Altean marks sat just below his eyes with the same color. He forced himself to stand, leaning heavily on the wall as he did, and realized with a start that he had miraculously grown four or five inches. Not only that but he felt stronger too. It wasn’t something his body necessarily felt in that moment but somehow he instinctively knows he was just as strong as Allura and Coran. He felt the strength running through his veins.

  
As he stared at himself in the mirror he thought about nothing but his family. What were they going to think of him? Would they even recognize him? Would it really matter if he ended up dying in space anyways? No, he thought dully, it wouldn’t. They would never know what he has somehow become, and that though shook him to the core. It became increasingly difficult to breath. Lance stumbled away from the mirror, horrified. This couldn't be happening. Maybe this was another bad dream. He knew the cryo-pods had the nasty side effect of weird nightmares. That's where the fear for the team and their weird sleeping habits came from, and the planet and the alien distress beacon. None of that was real. It couldn't have been. They wouldn't have let him wander like that. They weren't sick. This wasn't real. This couldn’t be real.

  
Little black dots danced furiously around his vision. He scrabbled at the floor for purchase of something, anything. All Lance needed was to feel something real. Something to break him out of whatever hell this was. He didn't want his elf like appearance. He wanted to look like he had. Like the boy his family would remember.

  
Something brushed up against his hand. Lance flailed instinctually. Suddenly hands were grasping his shoulders and shaking him wildly. Scared and vision still too blurry to see clearly Lance just sobbed. Whomever it was stopped shaking him then. They never fully let go but eventually they sat down behind him and pulled him close. They wrapped one arm around Lance's chest and another around his waist and all Lance could do was hold on and cry harder. Hiccups racked his body and he could hear nothing but his heartbeat but he could feel the person holding him. Too big to be Pidge and too small to be Hunk or Shiro. Keith, maybe? His brain wasn't working well enough to process anything more than their arms and their face pressed into the back of his neck as he sobbed.

  
They were unaware of time passing. It could have been mear minutes or long hours and they wouldn't have noticed. All that matter to Keith was Lance, and all that mattered to Lance was Keith (he had decided this was indeed Keith, and was going to not enjoy but appreciate it while he could). Keith was Lance's anchor right now and they both knew it.

  
When Lance finally got his breathing under control everything else quickly dissipated. His vision came back and his heart rate dropped back to normal. Lance managed to croak out a small, “Thank you.” to Keith. All Keith did was nod, too concerned to say much.

  
Coran came by a little later. He knocked on the door and asked if Lance was in there with Keith. “He’s here, a little unsteady and tired right now but he insisted on a shower. We’ll be out in a few.” Keith called from behind Lance. The advisor muttered something under his breath but didn’t ask any questions before he walked away. That was when Keith realized Lance was shivering in his grip. He was also naked. Keith’s cheeks flushed red but he said nothing as he got up to get Lance a towel. In the chaos Keith had not taken the time to access Lances clothing situation. All he had wanted was for Lance to calm down. He must have looked in the mirror, and everyone knew how sensitive Lance was about his looks. The drastic change must have sent him into that panic attack. If only Keith had been awake when Lance came out of the cryo-pod. Then none of this would have happened. He could have slowly introduced Lance to his new appearance instead of this.

  
“Here,” Keith hands Lance a towel. “Will you be alright if I’m gone for a moment?” The way Lance looks at him breaks his heart. Those big beautiful blue eyes look at him and well with tears. His lip trembles and Keith would swear Lance’s ears drooped just a little. It was like looking at an abused animal. His will crumbled, and there was nothing he could do about it.  


  
He sighed and held out a hand, “I won’t leave you alone, but you need clothes.” Lance didn’t even react for a minute, but his eyes said it all. It was almost as if whatever had happened made his already expressive eyes somehow moreso. “No one is going to see you until you’re ready, I promise.” Lance nodded and took his hand. For some reason this shocked Keith. Lance, while normally very trusting, had never put this much faith in him. It mended a few of the broken pieces of Keith’s heart because it meant Lance was going to be okay. Keith knew it would take some time but Lance would get through it. He somehow always did. So he turned and led Lance by the hand through the halls of the castle.

  
They made it to Lance’s room unseen. “Do you want me to go in with you or do you want me to wait here?” Keith asked softly. He didn’t want to leave Lance alone but he didn’t want to invade his privacy either.

  
“W-would you come in with me? I d-don’t want to be alone.” Keith nodded and they both entered Lance’s room. It was cold in his room. Unnaturally cold, almost like the room itself was upset for Lance. Keith looked around uncomfortably while Lance went to his closet, “I’ll be j-just a moment.” and then he disappeared into the smaller room. Keith hesitantly took a seat on Lance’s bed and looked around. The room was surprisingly clean. The bed was made, dirty clothes in a hamper, and all trash in the trash can. Keith had expected Lance to have a chaotic room, kind of like his personality. The Lance he was used to couldn’t focus on anything for more than a few minutes unless he was in the heat of battle and he was such a flirt he almost came off like a frat boy sometimes. Keith had seen how loyal Lance could be, and knew how dedicated to the team he was. Lance just never seemed willing to show the other side of himself often. Now that Keith thought about it he wondered why that was. Lance didn’t seem to be the kind of person to worry much or even to care much about what others thought about his personality. His looks, god forbid anyone make fun of those, but otherwise Lance was as carefree as they came. Almost obnoxiously so. What was Keith missing?

  
Lance came out wearing a long sleeved turtleneck and baggy grey sweatpants. He also had a beanie on to cover his ears. Keith stood and met Lance by the door. In a moment of weakness (or bravery, depends on who you ask) he gently took Lance’s hand and spun him so they were facing each other. Gently Keith ran his thumb over Lance’s new markings. Purposefully he glanced at Lances ears hidden by the beanie the boy was wearing. “You don’t have to hide anything. I accept you as you are now, and I know everyone else will too.” He spoke in a soft whisper. Keith wasn’t someone who normally was good with words, or emotions, but if there was one thing he was good at it was comfort. Months of helping Shiro through panic attacks and self-image problems ment he was prepared for just this kind of situation. That didn't at all mean this was a well rehearsed line though, because it wasn't. He had never said this to Shiro, and he probably never would because Shiro didn't mean the same thing to Keith as Lance did. Shiro was like his brother. Lance, well to Keith Lance was something more.

  
They stared at each other for a moment. Neither knowing what to say and both so lost in each other's eyes they didn't care. Lance had always liked Keith. That's why he used to be such an ass and make competitions out of everything when it came to Keith. He wanted Keith to notice him because he didn't feel special any other way. Keith realized his crush the first time Lance dropped his guard. When they had 'their moment’ after Lance had been severely wounded in an explosion when the Galra were attempting to take over the castle. Neither had been willing to put a voice to those feelings, and neither realized the other shared those feelings. It was a very confusing, angst ridden circle.

  
Carefully, Lance smiled a little at Keith. It wasn't much, more like a pained grimace, but it made Keith happy enough. It had been a while since he had seen Lance smile. Even before the incident Lance had seemed to have fallen into some kind of depression, and hadn't smiled in weeks. “Come on,” Keith said quietly. “Lets go before Coran worries.”

  
They leave Lances room in silence. The only sound is their feet hitting the ground. About half way there Lance reaches out and takes Keith’s hand in his. Keith startles but only for a moment, but Lance doesn’t miss the deer-caught-in-headlights look or the slight smile that replaces it. A spark ignited in his heart despite his inner turmoil. Maybe his feelings weren’t so onesidded.  


  
They walked into the infirmary to find Coran running diagnostics on the pod Lance had been in. “Odd, these are the same reading an Altean would have after being in one of these, not a human.” The advisor muttered to himself. The boys looked at each other. The same reading? Does that mean Lance really has become an Altean? How would that even be possible? Did that mean it was permanent?

  
“Coran? What does that mean?” Lance asked quietly. His voice trembled slightly as he spoke but he still managed to startle Coran out of his own thoughts. Keith tightened his grip on Lances hand in a little as a show of support. Quietly wishing he could do more.

  
“I do not know number three, but it is concerning.” At that Lance shrank. He began to shake again and Keith could see the tears begin to well in his eyes. Keith hated it. It made him so angry because Lance - with for all his annoying jokes and pranks - did not deserve this.

  
Carefully, so as to not spook the taller boy, Keith pulls Lance closer and wraps an arm around his thin waist. “Look at me Lance,” Keith said. Their height difference made this a little awkward for Lance but he looked down at Keith anyways. “It’s going to be okay. Remember what I said earlier? Don’t worry, okay?” Keith cringed a little bit at how cheesy that sounded but didn’t take it back. He meant every word.

  
“Lance?” The boys turned to Coran. Who, by only sheer will had not started crying, was beyond shocked by Lance’s new appearance. He… he looked Altean. In fact, if Coran had not seen the way Keith was looking at the taller boy he would have not immediately realized that was indeed Lance. “Wh… What happened?”

  
Lance felt his face heat up at Coran’s words. He knew this was not going to turn out well. Surely the team would remove him from his position as the red paladin until further notice. He certainly wouldn’t blame them. They didn’t know what caused this change or if it would do anything else. Honestly he was surprised still by Keith’s kindness in this situation.  


  
He was startled out of his thoughts when he felt hands descend onto his shoulders. Lance met Corans surprisingly bright purple eyes. He could see the wisdom hidden in their depths, but also the worry much closer to the surface. It made him feel all the worse as he watched the Alteans eyes take him in. Corans hands moved from Lance’s shoulders to his face. Where he traced a finger over his physique and then moved to take off Lance’s beanie. At this Lance moved away from Coran, and shook his head. Keith stepped in then. Positioning himself slightly in between the two and instinctively moved to take Lance’s hand. “Coran?” He asked with more calm than he felt.

  
Coran dropped his hands to his sides and sighed. One that conveyed a lifetime of hardship and pain. “I’m sorry my boy. You’re appearance startled me so. I was not expecting this.” He cleared his throat and continued on, sounding more like the Coran they knew and not the broken man they saw just moments before. “May I run a few scans to see if we can figure this out, hmm?” Lance gave a hesitant nod as Coran went to get his scanner.

  
Coran quickly returned with the scanner. What he found was confusing. It looked as though Lance was in fact becoming Altean. That wasn’t the problem though. The problem was that his cells were still changing. Like the cryo-pod had sped up his transition, but had opened early. Coran twirled his mustache between his fingers as he contemplated this. Normally the pods were good about healing the humans just the same as they would Alteans. The fact that the pod opened before Lance’s change was completed was very concerning. He didn’t have much left to get though, but it was enough to be painful as it seemed to spread like a virus through his body. Coran assumed it started outside and worked its way in, so not only was his brain still human but so were some of his organs.

  
“Lance, my boy. Why don’t we take a seat for a moment. You must be exhausted, and I need to go over a few more things.” He gestured to a group of chairs for them to use, and after another scan just to make sure all of his findings were accurate began to tell the boys what he found. As he spoke Lance seemed to curl more into himself. Shoulders hunched, head down, long arms wrapped tightly about himself. At some point, Coran didn’t know exactly when as all his attention solely focused on giving Lance objective information, Keith had pulled the taller boy onto his lap.

  
“Can we put him back in a pod until his body finishes the transformation?” Keith asked suddenly, interrupting Coran before he could get to that. Lance flinched at the question and Coran regretted what he had to say next knowing it would only mean more pain.

  
“I’m afraid not, number four. Sure, the pods can do a lot and I’m surprised it got him this far through the process but…” Coran paused and took a deep breath before reaching out and taking one of Lances hands in his own and giving it a light squeeze. If he noticed Keith's suddenly stiffen at the action he didn’t show it. “They cannot heal everything, and magic induced injuries normally are not healed in pods. They did what they could for the physical damage done, but could not do anymore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. A lot of stuff happened and I either didn't have time or was suffering from really bad writers block. On top of all that this chapter was just very difficult to get through. I think I rewrote it a solid five times.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think, and ideas on where this should go next would be very much appreciated.


End file.
